Rolling mill guide



March 0, H. c RENDLEMAN. ETAL 2,033,649

ROLLING MILL GUIDE Filed June 11, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 1 I J I .29 '25 March 10, 1936. H. c. RENDLEMAN. ET AL. 4 3

ROLLING MILL GUIDE Filed June 11, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 MN NN/ m W w 8 L m March 10, 1936.

H. C. RENDLEMAN El AL ROLLING MILL GUIDE i} Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 11, 1955 [IIIII INVENTORS Patented Mar. 10, 1936 ROLLING MILL GUIDE Hammer 0. Rendleman and Wade F. Holman, Aliqnippa, Pa, assignors to Jones & Langhlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 11, 1935, Serial No. 25,985

11 Claims.

It is customary in rolling billets in stands consisting exclusively of horizontal mils, to twist the billet 90' between certain of the stands in order to reduce both its cross sectional dimensions. The means heretofore employed for this purpose consists simply of a guide box having a helical passage therethrough adapted to impart a partial twist to the billet as it moves longitudinally through the passage. A' billet progreasing through a continuous mill has a large momentum because of its mass and speed, and

twist guides are therefore subject to very severe usage.

It has been found that the portions of the guide which engage diagonally opposite corners of the billet to effect the twist wear very rapidly, ne-

cemitatlng frequent repair or replacement of the ide.- A more serious objection to the twist guides which have previously been used is that particles oi hot metal from the billet are picked up by the guide and build up to form sharp points or edges which severely scar the faces of. the billets being rolled. Whfle further rolling may ,lron out" these scars, they represent inherent defects which are moreserious because they cannot be detected externally, and may become apparent only after a great deal of work has been expended upon the material which in that case represents almost a total loss.

We have invented a twist guide for billet mills which avoids the aforementioned. objections and provides a novel structure having other features' and advantages which will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In accordance with our invention, we provide a twist guide comprising a pair of opposed similar guide blocks, each of which has a hole therethrough and helical grooves extending along the inside and outside of the blocks from the hole to one end thereof. Roller chains designed particularly to withstand the severe usage to which twist guides are subject, lie in the grooves, traverse'the holes and extend around the ends of the blocks. The chains are constructed to permit them to follow the helical grooves without overstraining the parts thereof. The rollers of the chains are adapted to be engaged by a billet passing longitudinally through the guide and the shape of the grooves is such that the rolls follow a path which eifects'a partial twisting of the billet before it reaches the next stand. For a complete understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a present preferred embodi- '5 ment thereof, although it will be understood that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of our broader claims. In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the guide show- 10 ing the rolls of a stand in a continuous billet mill in section;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the guide with a portion removed;

Figure 3 is an end elevation as would be seen by looking from the right in Figure 1;

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views taken respectively along the lines IVIV, V-V an VI-VIofFigurel; v

Figure '7 is a developed partial longitudinal 2d sectional view; 1

Figure 8 is an end elevation of the entering end of the guide asv would be seen by looking from the left inFigure l;

Figure 9 is a plan view of a part of the guide;

Figure 9a. is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 10 is a plan view of a portion of the roller chain; i

Figure 11 is a side elevation thereof, and

Figure 12 is a sectional view along XIL-XEI of Figure 11.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and, for the present, to Figures 1 through 8, the twist guide of our invention comprises a pair. of guide blocks l0 and II having matching feet l2 by which they are positioned relatively to each other to form a. guide housing. The blocks i0 and il are identicaland only one of them willbe described in detail The'block III has a hole I! extending therethrough adjacent one end. The 4 I entering end of the block is provided with a helical surface It adapted to engage a billet indicated at It as it enters the guide and start the twisting thereof. The guide blocks ill and II are mounted in a' convenient manner adjacent the guide of. our invention.

, Outer and inner grooves l1 and I! extend from a point adjacent the hole l3 longitudinally of the block l0 toward the exit end thereof. The

inner groove I3 is preferably helical, the pitch being such as to cause a 90 twist of the billet by the time it reaches the next stand of rolls. Ordinarily, the entire length of the guide would be only approximately one-third or one-fourth of the distance between stands. The outer groove I! may be straight. The intersection between the grooves and the hole I3 is rounded to provide a guiding surface l9. Adjacent the exit end of the guide, the block In is provided with a member having a similar guide surface. The member 20 is adjustably mounted on the end of the block by means of studs 2|, to provide a take-up for a roller chain 22.

The chain 22 lies in the grooves l1 and i3 and is trained around the guiding surface is and the member 23. A top plate or bridge 23 is secured to the block Hi and has a hole 24 therein adapted to be disposed in alinement with the hole l3 through the block iii. The bridge 23 has a heli- ,cal guiding surface 23 adapted to overlie the outer groove H. The block Ill, furthermore, is provided with outwardly and inwardly extending guide flanges 2t and 21 constituting the continuations of the outer walls of the grooves l1 and II.

The roller chain 22 in traversing the inner helical groove II is effective to twist the billet progressively as shown in Figures 4 through 6, after the twist has been initiated by the surfaces ll adjacent the entering end of the guide. In Figures 1 and 2, only the center line of the chain has been shown at 22', since if the chain were shown there in full, it would obscure the view of the other parts of the guide. The bridge 23, furthermore, is omitted in Figure 2 for the sake of further clearness in illustration. Figure 7 is obviously not a true section, but is a view taken along a surface following the helical twist imparted to the chain by the shape of the inner groove i3. Figure 3 illustrates the path of the chain in dotted lines at 22".

The chain 22 is composed of a plurality of rolls 23 connected by links 29 and pivot pins 33 extending through the links and the rolls. The pins 33 are headed at one end as at 3|. The under side of the head 3| is in the shape of a truncated cone 32. Washers 33 withbeveled edges are disposed between the links 2!. The pins 33 are secured in place by cotter pins 34. The latter are protected by caps 35 on the ends of the pins 33, against abrasion on the side walls of the grooves l1 and i3. The caps 33 also transmit end thrust received thereby directly to the pin 33, thus avoiding any tendency for the pins 33 to shear off the pins 34. The edges of the caps 33 are beveled as at 30. The cone shaped portions 32, the beveled edges 33 and the beveled-edge washers 33 provide suflicient lost motion between the various parts of the chain to permit the chain to be twisted through a considerable angle in a relatively short length. The chain is thus adapted to follow the helical grooves without overstraining any of its parts.

The operation oi-the invention will probably be apparent from the foregoing description of its structure. As the billetenters the guide from the rolls I3 with its sides vertical, the leading end is partially twisted 'by the surfaces M. It then engages the rolls 23 of the chains 22 and as the latter traverse the passages ll, they progrwsively force the billet to twist through an,

increasing angle. The amount of twist in the travel of the chains, of course, is proportional to their length relative to the total distance between adiacent mill stands.

The twisting eifect is continuous so that the leading end of the billet continues to turn relative to that portion still in the rolls ll, even 5 after the leading end of the billet has left the exit end of the guide. By the time the leading end of the billet reaches the'next stand, it has been twisted through substantially The chains 22 are driven solely by the frictional engagement thereof by the billet. The rolls 23 transmit the pressure exerted thereon by the billet directly to the guide blocks and the only force on the chain links is the tension necessary to draw the return run thereof back toward the 15 entrance end of the guide. Heating of parts of the guide beyond safe limits is prevented by cooling fluid supplied through nozzles 31.

The advantages of our invention over twist guides such as previously employed will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art. Because of the mils the friction between the advancing billets and the portions of the guide which effect the twisting thereof is reduced to a neg i ible value and wear on the parts is correspondingly 25 reduced. The chain 22, furthermore, is readily susceptible of lubrication by a grease of-appropriate viscosity. There is no tendency, furthermore, for accretions dropped from the hot billets to build up on the chains or other parts of the guide. The scoring or scratching oi the billets which has been caused by the guides previously used is thereby avoided, with the result that the quality of the product is materially improved. It is found that the chains and other portions of 35 theguidehaveaverylonglifesothattheur keep is almost negligible. The initial cost of the device, furthermore, is not greatly in excess of that of previous types of twist guides.

Although we have illustrated and described but one preferred form of the invention, it will be apparent that changes in the construction described and illustrated may be made without dcparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. as

We claim:

1. A guide for twisting a billet between stands while being rolled in a continuous mill compris ing a housing through which the billet is adapted to pass longitudinally, roller chains extending so along the housing and adapted to engage diagonally opposite corners of a billet, and helical paths for said chains formed in said housing for so guiding the chains as-to twist progressively a billet engaged thereby. ss

2. A billet twisting guide comprising a housing through which the billet is adapted to move longitudinally, a plurality of rollers connected by links forming a. chain movable along a wall of the housing and back along the outside thereof. and helical tracks formed in said housing for said chain whereby the rollers are tilted progressively and twist a billet engaging therewith at its diagonally opposite longitudinal edges.

3. A twist guide for a rolling mill comprising a housing, and traveling roller chain therein effective to impart a twist to a billet ion-i gitudinally therethrough. i

4. The apparatus defined by claim 3 charac-' terized by said housing having a track over which said chain is trained to define a helical surface,

5. A twist guide for a rolling mill comp' a housing, and roll means mounted ther'eindffective to impart a twist to a billet passing ion gitudinaliy tberethrough. said means including aosacao a plurality oirollsmovable through said housing andoonnectedbylinksintoachain.

6. A twist guide for a rolling mill comprising a housing adapted to receive a billet from the mill. said housing having a helical groove therein,

and a chain traveling in said groove; said chain including rolls adapted to bottomin said groove. '7. A twist guide'ior a rolling mill comprising cling in said groove, said chain'including rolls adapted tohottom in said groove, links connectingsaidrolls, andmeans providing (or disa'iine-- ment of the links and the rolls.

8. A twist guide comprising a housinghaving a helical groove therein and a chaintravelingin said groove. said'chain including rolls adapted to bottom rolls links androlls.

in' said groove, links connecting saidv and el edge washersawembled with said tdtwistguideiorarollingmilia housing adapted to be mounted adjacent the mill to receive a billet therefrom, said housing having 10. A twist guide ccmprising'a guide block, a 19 holetherethrough, helical groovesextending'alcng both sides oi the block from the hole toward one end of the block, and a roller chain lying in said grooves,-traversing said hole and extending around one end or the block.

' l5 11. The apparatus defined by claim 10 charv acteriaed by a take-up for said chain adiustably carried on the block. f

m 0. mm. 20

WADE 1". 30m. l 

